Cavs look to be favoring Rajon Rondo over Brandon Goodwin from here

The Cleveland Cavaliers went out and executed a trade for then-Indiana Pacers guard/wing Caris LeVert, which as he gets more comfortable, will begin to pay off more game-to-game. LeVert has had issues getting looks to go down early on with Cleveland, but it’s been only four games, and he should help take some of the pressure off of Darius Garland, to some degree.

When it comes to primary playmaking depth behind Cleveland’s All-Star in Garland, though, the Cavaliers have veteran Rajon Rondo, who they acquired shortly in early January via trade with the Los Angeles Lakers after losing Ricky Rubio for the season.

Rubio, whose expiring contract was part of the LeVert trade, was a crucial player for the Cavs when healthy this season, and Rondo at this point in his career is not the player of Rubio. Even still, he has tons of experience, also in the postseason, and Rondo can still have a positive impact from a reserve playmaking perspective, as we’ve seen.

Plus, while he is on a two-way deal, and was in two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks before this year, Brandon Goodwin has given Cleveland some solid play when he has been called upon. I don’t gloss over that, either, and it’s been apparent Goodwin was more viable than Kevin Pangos, who was recently waived by the Cavaliers, despite having a successful European career before coming to the NBA this season.

Nonetheless, when examining the backup 1 spot from here with the closing stretch of the season ahead, even with what Goodwin has provided, it does appear that the Cavs are favoring Rondo.

It’s not a surprise, per se, but the Cavs look to be favoring Rondo over Goodwin from here.

Rondo has been somewhat inconsistent with the Cavaliers to this point, however, he was starting to get back into the flow of things over the few weeks leading into the All-Star break, which is nearly concluded.